Second man charged in car tire thefts

Justin Pottle

Published 9:37 pm, Wednesday, August 14, 2013

A second member of an alleged tire-theft ring was turned over to Greenwich police and arraigned at state Superior Court in Stamford following his arrest on a warrant stemming from a string of burglaries from cars parked in Greenwich, Stamford, and Mamaroneck, N.Y., late last year.

Ramon Abreu, 22, of the Bronx, N.Y., was turned over to Greenwich police Tuesday after a traffic stop by New York City police determined he was wanted in an arrest warrant. He was arraigned Wednesday on five counts of burglary and single counts of criminal mischief and second-degree larceny.

In court Wednesday, Abreu said he had "no idea" there was a warrant for his arrest.

Abreu was among a group of men that targeted vehicles in parking garages in apartment buildings in lower Fairfield County, stripping cars of their wheels, tires and other items late at night, according to police reports and court documents.

Seven Greenwich car owners awoke in late 2012 to find their wheels missing; others had their car windows smashed and center consoles broken into, resulting in a total of tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage.

Officers subsequently found a variety of tools in the minivan, including a commercial-style floor jack and a pair of tire irons, police said.

The vehicle's rear seats had been lowered to increase storage space. All three men were charged with simple trespass, a misdemeanor, and released. Westport police then contacted other municipalities with similar thefts.

Surveillance camera footage placed a similar blue minivan at various victimized garages, along with a gray GMC Acadia and a gray Infiniti, according to police. Similarly, Abreu's appearance and clothing matched a description obtained by Mamaroneck police earlier in January.

A Greenwich police investigation used Facebook to link Abreu to a gray Infiniti as well as identifying a cell phone number attributed to Vasquez, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Call data determined Vasquez had been near several of the reported thefts at the time they occurred, the affidavit states. Greenwich police subsequently obtained arrest warrants for Abreu, Vasquez and Fuentes.

Separately, a Stamford police investigation led to the Feb. 20 arrest of Reinaldo Rivera on charges of criminal trespass and possession of burglar tools when he was allegedly found in the vicinity of a condo garage that was burglarized not long before. Court records said phone records quickly linked Rivera and another man who was nearby, but not arrested, to Abreu and Vasquez.

Vasquez turned himself in to Greenwich police on June 18 on eight counts of burglary, two counts of criminal mischief and one count of first-degree larceny, eventually being held on $50,000 bond.

Following Abreu's transfer to Greenwich police custody on Tuesday, he was held on $100,000 bond.

Abreu's attorney successfully argued in court Wednesday for the $100,000 to be reduced in half. Abreu is next scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 29.